Moving away and relocating can be a timely and expensive process for any family. Searching for a new home, adjusting to work, and selling your property are things you have to do. Whether you’re relocating or selling your home, it’s essential to improve your home value while looking out for what can decrease it.
Improving home value can be beyond your control, especially for factors you cannot avoid. The following improvements not only help sell your house better but improve your current living conditions.
Low Maintenance
You probably won’t buy a house that requires constant repair and new components. In the same light, replacing your faulty heaters, furnaces, or roofing can sell your house at a higher price. This can also ingrain to future buyers a sense of security, knowing they won’t need emergency repairs soon.
Visual Appeal
A house’s exterior is the first thing people see when buying a new home. Your goal is for potential buyers to be interested long enough to make them want to walk inside your front door. Start by maintaining exterior landscapes by repainting some walls or planting flowers. Next, you’ll want to move to interiors, such as the bathroom and kitchen. You won’t need to overhaul and replace your appliances and bathroom fixtures completely. Instead, a slight remodel can add a significant return on investment without costing you much.
Efficiency
Depending on your home location, energy conservation features can have a good impact on home value. Attic insulation, LED lighting, and double-paned windows are sure to attract the energy-conscious as well as give them peace of mind. Homes that have solar power within Salt Lake City, Utah are prime examples of having increased perceived property value. If you are searching for a new home soon, these are also things to consider after applying them to your own house.
Value Decreased
After listing the factors that can improve your home value, these are the things to look out for when you are searching for new residential property. Some of them may be beyond your control (such as your current location) but can be warning signs for your next potential home. Unfortunately, more aspects can decrease a home’s value, so be wary of the following:
Noise
A house located near train tracks or airports can mean disturbances and distractions. The environmental noise produced by these locations decreases the resale value of these properties.
Houses that are too unique
There may be a house that stands out from the rest, and not in a right way. Buyers consider color important; but if it stands out too much, it can drag down a home’s selling price.
The Neighborhood
Location is important for any buyer. This means that a house situated near a good school can attract them while one near a low ranking school can decrease property values. Houses next door to convicts and certain criminals also harm a house’s value. Noisy and messy neighbors are also negative influences on a home’s value, so it’s important to know what’s going on around the area before deciding on a property to buy.
Power Plants and Dumps
It’s no surprise that houses near a landfill can decrease property values by up to 7%. A home situated near power plants has the same story, according to the University of California at Berkeley.
Extensive Renovations
Remodeling can be beneficial to increasing home value; however, it can bring it down if buyers see it as high maintenance. A pool installed in a cold region or state, for example, can detract potential buyers.
